The telephone is one of the paramount inventions of all-time. In recent years there has been tremendous growth in telecommunications technology, availability and use. One of the most subscribed and utilized telecommunication services is call waiting which allows users the option of connecting to an incoming call while they are on the phone with a current call. However, there are some known problems that call waiting has introduced as a result.
One of the more common problems occurs when a user places a phone call, is directed to voicemail when the recipient does not answer, and is interrupted by the recipient returning the call. Current systems, when presented with this problem, provide users with the option to: 1) ignore the incoming call and continue to leave the message, 2) accept the incoming call and allow the voicemail feature to hang up by itself, typically after it has exhausted the maximum time allotted for voicemail messages, or 3) accept the incoming call, ask the incoming caller to hold while the first call is being ended, switch back to the voicemail message and attempt to end the call with the voicemail, and finally switch back to the incoming caller.
Each of the options provided by the current systems has shortcomings. The first option compels the user to ignore the incoming call only to have to return the call later. In this scenario, both users may receive voicemail messages and attempt to return the call later which increases the chances that the same situation may occur again. The second option is problematic because it forces the user to end the voicemail message and allow the voicemail to continue indefinitely. Some voicemail systems, particularly certain cellular systems, do not allow messages to be deleted until they are played in their entirety. This process subjects the calling user to expending additional airtime minutes or being billed additional fees for the minutes consumed by leaving to the message. Further, the receiving user's voicemail would be cluttered with an obsolete message and that user would also be subjected expending additional airtime minutes or being billed additional fees for the minutes consumed by listening to the message. The third option presents a risk of hanging up on the incoming caller and may be deemed as both unprofessional and inconsiderate.